Government pays compensations for connection to gas pipe

The Government will award compensations for the connection to the gas pipe to certain categories of citizens from rural areas. The Cabinet approved a draft law which provides to pay compensations to teachers, doctors and people of art from villages. Minister of Local Public Administration Vitalie Vrabie told reporters that the draft envisages allocating 1500 lei for the families whose members are part of these categories, and 750 lei – for the families in which only one member is part of these categories of budgetary persons. Later, upon Parliament approval, the Government will draw up within two months a regulation for implementing this law. According to Vrabie, there are about 20,000 families in the country that can receive such compensations. But, based on the existent gas supply networks, at the moment compensations can be paid only to 5,000 families in the country. The state budget needs about 7 mln lei to pay these compensations in 2007, the minister estimated. At present, the costs of the gasification works and of works for construction of gas and water pipes differ from place to place. The Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin previously requested to set fixed prices as regards the connection of household consumers to natural gas pipes. In order to increasing the household consumers’ access to the natural gas sources, the President has launched the initiative of free connection, on the account of central and local budgets, of 11 categories of citizens from villages, including veterans, pensioners, disabled persons, participants in armed conflicts, in liquidation of consequences of Chernobyl catastrophe, doctors, and teachers. The Government pledged to supply with gas all the settlements in Moldova until 2009.